That’s a wrap. Not the yummy tortilla kinda “wrap”, mind you. Rather, I’m of course talking about the end of the year, 31 December, 2019 just a few hours away.

Notable from the year…

Faith proved again to be a major, positive influencer in coping, navigating, persevering through the rougher patches of water.

My father departed this earth early in the year, from the effects of stroke two years back. Several other folks in my world also passed on, at varied ages, for varied reasons. Life and Death were to the fore this year. Lots of prayer around that.

Our five year old son was in the hospital for a week suffering from viral and bacterial infections. He weathered the illness ok. I like to think it made him stronger; I know it made more certain of our family’s capacity to cope. It wasn’t easy, but we all made it through.

I took on a new role at work this past year. no joke, The learning curve has been steeper than I anticipated. I’ve had my share of challenges in the process. That said, I’ve learned a lot. And as the fiscal/calendar year closes up, I have come out more well-rounded in my understanding of my professional discipline, and have a more compelling skill-set as well.

We went to Hawaii with a lot of the family on my wife’s side: it was a great time, good travel, and lots of little moments of joy. Shaved Ice was the source of that joy several times throughout the week. We’ll go back. Maybe several times. To Hawaii; and for more Shaved Ice.

The kids played soccer. Sort of, with varied degrees of understanding and enthusiasm. The best part? My wife coached, and loved it. We got some good lessons in meeting new people, and helping kids take steps forward in trying new things, not giving up, and having fun in new ways.

I came to a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to serve the community. The good news is, I’m more completely committed to a life of Lionism, which I began a dozen years ago. Along the way? The best Thanksgiving Food Drive in our club’s 49-year history. Will continue to live the Lion motto: We Serve.

My X Factor seemed ready for school this fall, but it’ll be another year before she starts Kinder. When she gets there, she’s going to rock it. And her hair gets curlier by the day, it seems. 🙂

I became a more frequent fan of the hashtag. I’m a little behind the curve I think. Oh well. A few of my favorites were as follows; that last one ended up on our driveway a few times.

#bekind

#gratitude

#dadlife

#goodstuff

#love

Number One continued to float above the fray, demonstrating goodness, good attitude, good learning capacity. And she made great headway in learning to swim during the summer.

Overall?

I’m pretty damn sure that 2019 is going to be good. Because we’re going to make it so.

HNY2019

Or rather.

#happynewyear2019